Spurn Week 15

Spurn 26.09.2016

Absolutely no birding at all at Spurn today, as the entire day was spent on a trip to Scotland to see Brünnich’s Guillemot! What a bird that was!

Spurn 27.09.2016

After the long drive and stress mixed with elation yesterday, we were hardly busting a gut to get up this morning. Sadly this did cost us as a Richards pipit flew south as we were checking canal scrape. Once we arrived at Numpties there were still a few birds going south, a handful of Meadow Pipits and a couple of ducks on the sea.

Once it had dried up, which did not take long, we headed back to the Obs and continued our work on the garden. In the afternoon I headed off to Kilnsea wetlands to count the ducks and any waders. 119 Wigeon were the best of it, but sadly there were very few waders. A single Curlew Sandpiper came on and that was very nice but only a handful of Dunlin, a couple of Knot and Ruff and that was basically that. The roost reflected the level of the tide, which was very low.

-Curlew Sandpiper

Species List:

 Triangle: Common Scoter, Teal, Eider, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Moorhen, Little Grebe, Whinchat, Meadow Pipit, Linnet, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Carrion Crow, Little Egret, Dunlin, Arctic Skua, Common Gull, Cormorant, Brent Goose,

Kilnsea Wetlands: Teal, Wigeon, Shoveler, Pintail, Mallard, Mute Swan, Knot, Dunlin, Ruff, Redshank, Greenshank, Bar-tailed Godwit, Woodpigeon, Golden Plover, Grey Plover, Ringed Plover, Little Egret, Meadow Pipit, Carrion Crow,

Spurn 28.09.2016

The ongoing south-westerlies continued to bring good passage this morning. Over 2000 Meadow Pipits was by far the biggest count, but a number of Finches, Buntings and Wagtails were also on the move. The most unusual bird was a Great-spotted Woodpecker which went south high north, obviously saw the peninsula, didn’t like what it could see and decided to turn around and go back north. A more unusual vis-mig species…

The benefits of being at numpties means you can also watch the sea, and from there I got a Spurn tick, probably easiest to get Spurn tick. It was a Scaup Its also only the second time I have ever seen this species, although the circumstances are substantially different from last time. This time it was a female flying at sea with a flock of Common Scoter. The bird was distant but it was easy to tell what it was. A great addition to the yearlist and Spurn list!

Species List:

Triangle: Common Snipe, Cormorant, Gannet, Scaup, Common Scoter, Greylag Goose, Pink-footed Goose, Mallard, Moorhen, Little Grebe, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Grey Plover, Golden Plover, Kestrel, Jackdaw, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Starling, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Swallow, House Martin, Sand Martin, Skylark, Peregrine, Marsh Harrier, Meadow Pipit, Linnet, Reed Bunting, Great Tit, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap, Common Gull, Black-headed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Redshank, Curlew, Herring Gull, Blue Tit, Sparrowhawk,

Spurn 29.09.2016

I first went up to Kilnsea Wetlands in the morning in the hope of counting the Wigeon present. There had been good numbers of Pink-footed Geese going south and I was no surprised to find a flock of 60 on the Wetlands itself. There remained 131 Wigeon plus other duck species, and a Kingfisher flew through, which was a fantastic sight.

Next I cycled down to numpties where I was treated to a satisfying Vis-mig featuring more of the same species as previous days, but with a few Pink-footed Geese thrown in for good measure. The undoubted highlight came after I had just left numpties and was walking back along the road. A radio shoutout for Osprey came over the radio, coming south directly towards me. I picked it up with time to judge everything for when it came straight over my head, which it did. It gave some fantastic views and I managed to get some decent photos, only I had accidently altered the settings leaving me with some unwanted artistic wing-blur…

-Osprey

In the afternoon I went with Andy Roadhouse to deliver reports around Flamborough and Filey. We tried to twitch a bean goose but failed to connect but it was nice afternoon out, and we avoided missing anything at Spurn whilst saving the obs money on postage.

Species List:

Kilnsea Wetlands: Wigeon, Teal, Pintail, Mallard, Mute Swan, Pink-footed Goose, Golden Plover, Curlew, Redshank, Dunlin, Knot, Grey Plover, Greenshank, Ruff, Kingfisher, Woodpigeon, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Starling, Lapwing,

Triangle: Chiffchaff, Long-tailed Tit, Starling, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Cormorant, Pink-footed Goose, Little Grebe, Moorhen, Mallard, Common Snipe, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Grey Plover, Golden Plover, Curlew, Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Yellow Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Linnet, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow,

Spurn 01.10.2016

With so many birders on site today I decided it might be worth trying somewhere different, and by different I meant not numpties. I ended up at Beacon Ponds, as the birds on  Wetlands had all been flushed there. The high tide roost was good, with over 1000 Dunlin and 500 Redshank, plus a Little Stint and a Curlew Sandpiper. On the duck front I had over 200 Wigeon for the first time this autumn and 16 Brent Geese. All good stuff.

Next I headed down to numpties but passage had largely dried up by then, only a handful of Tree Sparrows and Grey Wagtails. I decided to head off up to a new area around Easington and see what was around there. I did not see much, but missed another Richards pipit. As I was cycling back to the triangle in a futile attempt to catch up with it a radio message came out that a Crane was flying over Easington. I immediately stopped, found a place to set up and began scanning. It did not take long to pick up the Crane. Although distant there was no denying the identity of the bird, a smashing bird to add to my Spurn list. Sadly it kept on going through west and it was soon too far away. An unexpected bird for the day…

In the afternoon the wind finally changed from south-westerly into Northerly. Almost immediately the birds on the sea started to pick up so I headed down that way for possibly the best Seawatching session I have had all year. Highlights were a self-found Sabines Gull and Great-Northern Diver, the latter being a Spurn tick, and a fully Spooned adult Pomarine Skua. All cracking birds to add to the steady trickle of Sooty and Manx Shearwater, Arctic Skuas and Red-throated Divers. A fine end to the day!

Species List:

Beacon Ponds: Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Redshank, Greenshank, Grey Plover, Golden Plover, Grey Heron, Cormorant, Brent Goose, Wigeon, Mallard, Teal, Ringed Plover, Black-headed Gull, Little Egret, Curlew, Knot, Linnet, Reed Bunting, Turnstone, Lapwing, Little Grebe,

Triangle: Robin, Dunnock, Tree Sparrow, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Black-headed Gull, Long-tailed Tit, Arctic Skua, Greylag Goose, Pink-footed Goose, Mallard, Goldfinch, Linnet, Reed Bunting,

Seawatching: Arctic Skua, Pomarine Skua, Great Skua, Little Gull, Sabines Gull, Kittiwake, Red-throated Diver, Great-northern Diver, Manx Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater, Grey Plover, Dunlin, Knot, Gannet, Great Black-backed Gull, Common Gull, Black-headed Gull,

Spurn 02.10.2016

Given the potential of the northerly winds that blew all night I arose early and headed down Seawatching in the hope of a petrel. Sadly, despite spending about 8 hours in Seawatching throughout the day I failed to get one. That being said, the Seawatching was exceptional until midday when it all but dried up.

The highlight was 128 Sooty Shearwaters all going north, some of them coming very close in shore and looking fantastic in great light. A Balearic Shearwater flew south too, which was a fine addition to the yearlist, my first since last year’s birds on Portland. Sadly though it was very distant, and there was some contention as to its identity, although from what I saw of it, there was no doubt and it was accepted as Balearic. An adult Pomarine Skua with full spoons also flew south, but sadly more distant than yesterdays, plus two Great Northern Divers, one of which was very close. Also a distant Long-tailed Skua went past, but it was hardly a highlight.

Away from the sea I only had a couple of hours, but in that time I managed to connect with 3 Yellow-browed Warblers of the small fall that occurred during the afternoon. I also managed to see some of the Redwings and Bramblings that had come in on this first wave of birds. Remarkably, Brambling was a Spurn tick, although possibly the easiest species that I still needed…

Species List:

Seawatching: Manx Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater, Balearic Shearwater, Fulmar, Puffin, Razorbill, Guillemot, Gannet, Common Scoter, Teal, Wigeon, Arctic Skua, Pomarine Skua, Long-tailed Skua, Great Skua, Mute Swan, Red-throated Diver, Great-northern Diver, Kittiwake, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Oystercatcher, Grey Plover, Dunlin, Knot, Redwing, Meadow Pipit,

Triangle: Brambling, Redwing, Yellow-browed Warbler, Chiffchaff, Song Thrush, Brent Goose, Pink-footed Goose, Mallard, Kestrel, Goldcrest, Sparrowhawk, Meadow Pipit, Grey Wagtail, Black-headed Gull, Grey Plover, Redshank, Dunlin, Knot, Golden Plover, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Magpie,

Spurn Week 9

Monday 08th August

I arrived in the obs early afternoon to the news that a juvenile Spotted Redshank could be seen from the upstairs window of the obs. So I headed up to have a look at it before it flew off into the Humber. I headed out round the triangle for a walk but failed to see much, and the evening tern roost was quite limited.

Species List:

Triangle: Spotted Redshank, Redshank, Dunlin, Swallow, Common Gull, Herring Gull, Gannet, Common Tern, Sandwich Tern, Magpie, Starling, House Sparrow, Little Egret, 

Tuesday 09th August

A fairly unproductive day as the weeks of nightshifts begin to catch up with me. In the end the only birding I actually did was the evening seawatch, although that was nothing to be sniffed at with my first Sooty Shearwaters of the year going north, fairly close in too. A couple of Arctic Skuas were also thrown into the mix to make light of what was a poor evening tern movement.

Species List:

Seawatching: Common Scoter, Gannet, Sooty Shearwater, Fulmar, Arctic Skua, Common Gull, Oystercatcher, Common Tern, Black-headed Gull, Sandwich Tern, Swallow, Woodpigeon, 

Wednesday 10th August

Finally the last two birds had fledged thus ending my weeks of night shifts and restoring me to something like normality. So today when I eventually got out of bed from my final night-shift I decided to head off down the canal to seawatching in the hope of maybe picking up some seabirds.

There was nothing down the canal and the sea was fairly quiet too, although there was a healthy number of Oystercatchers moving, with 200+ in the two hours that I was there for. The only other birds of note were two Arctic Skuas, but they were somewhat distant, which was a real shame.

-Oystercatchers

Species List:

Seawatching: Knot, Oystercatcher, Gannet, Kittiwake, Arctic Skua, Common Scoter, Sanderling, Sandwich Tern, Whimbrel, Common Tern, Swallow, Woodpigeon, Herring Gull, Common Gull, 

Thursday 11th August

In trying to restore my sleeping pattern to something like normality I decided not to push myself but to get out of bed at a more reasonable 08.00. By that time news of the morning had been filtering through, and it appeared that the Wood Sandpiper was now back on the canal scrape. So thats where I headed first. The bird was indeed back and showing very well. Sadly the poorer weather conditions meant the light was rubbish but I still managed a few more photos of what has been a very obliging bird throughout its stay. Also of note on the scrape is a young Coot, which is a pretty unusual bird for Spurn.

-Wood Sandpiper

-Coot

Once I had finished with the Sandpiper I headed down to seawatching for a bit. The birds were not really moving at all, only a handful of waders and a few duck. The only seabirds not Gannets were two Arctic Skuas, which were both closer than the previous days birds.
Up at the ponds in the afternoon for a couple of hours rewarded me with my first sight of the last two Little Tern chicks, a bit bigger than I expected but still looking a little young to be flying. Still, they look healthy, and no matter, they can fly so should soon be well on their way out of ponds. Other birds at the ponds were few and far between, but Kilnsea Wetlands was absolutely heaving with birds; mainly Common and Sandwich Terns, plus Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls. Really quite impressive.

-Little Egret

-Terns and Gulls

Species List:

Triangle: Coot, Moorhen, Tufted Duck, Wood Sandpiper, Golden Plover, Dunlin, Dunnock, Mallard, Swallow, House Martin, House Sparrow, Curlew, Magpie, Linnet, Starling, Little Grebe, Reed Warbler,

Seawatching: Arctic Skua, Eider, Common Scoter, Knot, Sanderling, Gannet, Sandwich Tern, Teal, Cormorant,
Kilnsea Wetlands and Beacon Ponds: Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Swallow, House Martin, Dunlin, Sanderling, Cormorant, Ringed Plover, Little-ringed Plover, Oystercatcher, Greenshank, Little Tern, Common Tern, Sandwich Tern, Mediterranean Gull, Little Egret, Black-headed Gull, Mallard, Teal, Arctic Skua, Skylark, Common Gull, Mute Swan, Herring Gull, Gannet, Kittiwake, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Little Gull, Turnstone, Swift,

Friday 12th August
This morning did not start well. I thought I had left my radio on overnight so anything stupidly early would wake me up. Turns out that was not the case, and as a result I did not see the bittern that landed on Canal Scrape at 5.00 in the morning. Most of the morning was spent waiting for its reappearance but no such thing happened. The Wood Sandpiper was still present though, as were a couple of Snipe.

-Wood Sandpiper

The day passed with still no sign of the bittern reappearing. In the evenings seawatch though there was something much better with the first major Tern movement of the year. 7370 Terns were clicked going to roost, the most by some distance this year and obviously really impressive to see. I always maintain that evening tern roost is the best thing I have seen at Spurn and to have gone a couple of years without a decent count has been extremely disappointing.

Species List:
Canal Scrape: Common Snipe, Mallard, Teal, Wood Sandpiper, Dunlin, Woodpigeon, Teal, Little Grebe, Meadow Pipit,
Seawatching: Common Tern, Arctic Tern, Sandwich Tern, Gannet, Common Scoter, Common Gull, Black-headed Gull, Arctic Skua, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull,

Saturday 13th August
The event of the day was a Wader ID course being run by the Obs. I decided to combine wader spotting with a couple of hours up at the ponds ensuring that the last couple of chicks were still Ok. There were not masses of Waders but there was a good variety around Ponds, Wetlands and Holderness field. As a result I understand the event was a success.
The best of the waders were the two juvenile Little Stints still on Holderness Field, but the Ruff were still on Wetlands (Looking amazing) and there were still a handful of Little Ringed Plover knocking about.
In the evening the tern roost nowhere near lived up to the excitement of last night, but a very distant Osprey was a much appreciated yeartick. That being said, it was so distant it could have been a Greater Black-back so far as I'm concerned...

Species List:
Kilnsea Wetlands, Beacon Ponds and Holderness Field: Black-tailed Godwit, Ruff, Mediterranean Gull, Little Ringed Plover, Ringed Plover, Little Tern, Little Stint, Dunlin, Common Snipe, Turnstone, Knot, Wigeon, Sanderling, Mute Swan, Little Grebe, Greenshank, Redshank, Black-headed Gull, Sandwich Tern, Common Tern, Mallard, Teal, Herring Gull, Common Gull, Great Black-backed Gull,
Seawatching: Osprey, Manx Shearwater, Common Tern, Arctic Tern, Sandwich Tern, Fulmar, Common Scoter, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Oystercatcher, Knot, Dunlin, Arctic Skua

Sunday 14th August
Once again duty called upon me. Today was the day of the official launch of Andy Roadhouses book 'The Birds of Spurn'. A fantastic volume covering all the species ever seen at Spurn. But to make sure all the people coming the launch got the book they had ordered there was some setting up to do.
But before all that I got to settle a score with possibly my most missed species at Spurn. I was just getting dressed in the morning when a message came over the radio of a Treecreeper in the Obs garden. Having missed 4 at Spurn, it was well known my desire to see one, so Pete, who found it, specifically radioed me up. Withing a minuet I was alongside the birders watching it climb along the hawthorn hedge. About a hour later it was trapped and ringed at Kew, so I got to appreciate it out of the morning gloom as well.

-Treecreeper

It was a good day at Spurn overall too. As we were packing books news came over the radio of a Sabines Gull flying north. It had been picked up at Easington Caravan Site, so our chances were slim. As soon as news broke, all the birders raced to their vehicles. I jumped in with Tim and Jonnie. With an absurd amount of speed we made it up to the Gas Terminal. We jumped out and began scanning. We had overtaken the bird and Jonnie picked it up as it flew slowly past us. Slower birders kept arriving all the time but the bird continued north and soon it was not much more than a dot. A cracking bird.

-Sabines Gull

The book launch was extremely successful. Once it was over I headed up to the ponds to do a little shift with the Terns. Both chicks were still present and looking ready to leave at any point really. A Garganey on Kilnsea Wetlands was new, and somewhat unexpected for the day list.

-Garganey

In the evenings seawatch there continued to be hardly any terns, another disappointing evening on the whole. That being said, when you have a fully spooned Pomarine Skua going past, no matter what else flies past its got to be a success!

Species List:
Kilnsea Wetlands & Beacon Ponds: Garganey, Black-tailed Godwit, Wheatear, Sanderling, Little Tern, Common Tern, Dunlin, Redshank, Sandwich Tern, Ringed Plover, Oystercatcher, Greenshank, Mallard, Mute Swan, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Teal, Wigeon, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, Great Black-backed Gull,
Seawatching: Common Tern, Pomarine Skua, Arctic Skua, Common Scoter, Herring Gull ,Fulmar, Gannet, Sandwich Tern,

Pennington Flash

All the gripping birds decided to drop in the few days when I had no time at all. So when I finally did have time free I was left in a dilemma as to which bird I should go for. I decided to head over to Wigan for the superb looking Sabines Gull at Pennington Flash.

This was a wise choice as the bird showed incredibly well all day, sometimes less than a meter away, and never further than 10 meters away. It was a real beauty and really obliging, coming to bread whenever it was thrown. The only downside was the light was against us all day and so none of the 500 photos I took were anything exceptional. That doesn't matter though, as they show enough to see just how good this bird was. Well worth the trip. 

-2nd Summer Sabines Gull

To see a bird like this in nearly full summer plumage was not how I imagined I would tick this species, and especially not coming to bread on a lake in Manchester. Of course, one of the standout features of this species is the colour of the saddle on the birds back when in flight. I labored to get a photo of this feature, but the bird was often too close, as ridiculous as it sounds. Still, I got a few reasonable attempts.

-2nd Summer Sabines Gull

Species List:

Pennington Flash: Mallard, Sabines Gull, Black-Headed Gull, Great-Crested Grebe, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Herring Gull, Canada Goose, Grey Heron, Cormorant, Common Gull, Mute Swan, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Coot, Swift, Magpie, Common Buzzard, Tufted Duck, Common Tern,